12,128 stories from Trav S.D.
Thanks, Eve Golden, for the intel that James Darren (James Ercolani, 1936-2024) left us yesterday. I am going to lead with the elephant in the room, which most other obits have been either t…
September 2 is World Coconut Day! We observe it as we did with National Banana Day last year, with a little survey of key moments when the humble coconut (sometimes spelled cocoanut) has ins…
This one goes out to my good buddy Kevin Fitzpatrick, who made me more aware than I might otherwise be of Helen Falconer Buck (1890-1968), and who enhanced her Find a Grave entry substantial…
This is something I only became aware of a few days ago, on a recent trip to the Museum of Modern Art. On September 1, 1966, artist Öyvind Fahlström staged and filmed a work of street t…
Born 100 years ago today, child star Lawrence "Sunny" McKeen (1924-1933). McKeen was only two years old when he was cast as Snookums in a series of silent comedy shorts based on George McMan…
There were two generations of Tiny Littles in this miniature musical dynasty. The elder, Irvine "Tiny" Little (1902-82) was originally from Goldfield, Iowa, but eventually settled in Worthin…
Today is a banner day for lovers of early American jazz " it's the release date for Archeophone Record's epic new box set Centennial: King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. The centenary it celebra…
August 29 was the birthday of exotic dancer Carol Doda (1937-2015). And learning about her has provided delights beyond the obvious. To wit: I had long wondered about when American culture t…
I think we can go ahead and call my old friends of The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus a New York institution by now. Among their many programs and activities (their Open Stage Variety Show, the F…
Don't get the wrong idea! I almost never take requests on this blog, maybe one time in a thousand. The fuel that this blog runs on is its author's own whims. Has to come from me. In fact, th…
Born 100 years ago today, blues, jazz and pop vocalist Dinah Washington (Ruth Lee Jones, 1924-1963). Washington started out singing and playing piano with gospel choirs in her native Tuscalo…
This one comes with a trigger warning, because the story gets pretty dark. In fact it approaches maximum darkness. I've occasionally gone there in my writing, though not so often on this blo…
Harry Hill (1827-1896) died of an August 27. The exact date of birth is not known; he was not of the class that kept careful track of such things. Hill was born in the vicinity of Epsom Down…
August is both Women's Equality Day and the birthday of writer Zona Gale (1874-1938). Today happens to be the 150th anniversary of her birth. As Gale was a suffragist and a feminist, the ali…
Today a long overdue tribute to that leader among the New Vaudevillians, Avner the Eccentric (Avner the Eccentric, b. 1948). I'm quite certain I first learned about Avner from the 1988 book …
Almost everything about the real Van Johnson (Charles Van Dell Johnson, 1911-2008) is more interesting than his movie career. I've long wanted to give Van Johnson a nod here because he was a…
The heyday of Durward Kirby (1911-2000) was just a hair before my time. I heard the name as a point of cultural reference on TV shows like Rocky and Bullwinkle and Phyllis and Bewitched when…
It's a squeaker. I love Hacks, too, for example. I'm bound to throw in my two cents about that show, too, at some point. But if there is one program (do we say "television" any more? this sh…
Jack Collins (1918-2005), not to be confused with Jack Rollins, or a Tom Collins, was not a household name, but he was definitely a household face. People my age will know him as Mike's boss…
Our Parade of Roses growses: to Jack Rose, Harry Rose, Billy Rose, Ike Rose, Julian Rose, Broadway Danny Rose, and Max Rose, we now add Fred Rose (1898-1954). Fred Rose is basically the miss…
August 23 was Gene Kelly's birthday; as my previous post on him was a bit perfunctory (it deals mainly with his family vaudeville act The Five Kellys), I thought I'd expand his footprint her…
Tribute today to character actor Jay Novello (Michael Romero, 1904-1982). No relation to either Ivor Novello or Don Novello (since he was, as we say, a Romero), one could be forgiven for mix…
Born on August 21, Olive Blakeney (1894-1959), best known for playing Mrs. Aldrich in the Aldrich Family comedies (1942-44). Blakeney was a native of Newport, Kentucky; she received her thea…
A brief squint today at the life of stage and screen actress Virginia Hammond (Louise Shumate, 1893-1972). Hammond was born into an old Virginia Huguenot family; the original spelling of Shu…
Born 100 years ago today, the great actor William Marshall (1924-2003), best known for three pretty outre roles, that of Dr. Richard Daystrom in the 1968 Star Trek episode "The Ultimate Comp…
